DDT Around The World – June 2022

July 1, 2022

I’ll now include the official Youtube videos of matches to these posts. Last month’s article was updated to include the videos available from May and I’ll go back to add more if they get uploaded. Konosuke Takeshita having matches across the American indies that are so good they have to be put up for free on Youtube is going to be the trend this summer. The other trend seems to be Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestlers unexpectedly appearing on AEW’s Youtube shows whenever they are in the country. The Forbidden Door is behind us for the time being so if there was any red tape preventing Takeshita from having a higher profile that should be gone now. Even then he’s keeping himself busy as you will see below. By the way it is incredibly satisfying to see how successful that show turned out. So many wrestling analysts and personalities last month predicted failure because let’s be honest, they personally don’t care about New Japan. It is obvious to me that a lot of them used the “casual fan” argument as a cover for their own lack of  interest or knowledge for Japanese wrestling. But the PPV being a success proves there is an audience out there that does care. I mean that’s why you’re here right now reading this post, right?

SPOILER WARNING: The results section includes spoilers for taped AEW matches that have not aired yet.

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Videos


DPW “NO PRESSURE”, 05/06/2022
Gov. James E. Holshouser Building, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

1. Golden Opportunity Match: Miyu Yamashita Vs Miyuki Takase


Video starts at 21:24 for the match
AEW “DARK ELEVATION”, 06/06/2022
The Kia Forum, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Skye Blue & Miyu Yamashita Vs Serena Deeb & Nyla Rose


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 08/06/2022
Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA

1. Casino Battle Royale: Darby Allin Vs Tony Nese Vs Daniel Garcia Vs Lance Archer Vs Eddie Kingston Vs Ricky Starks Vs Jake Hager Vs Rey Fenix Vs Swerve Strickland Vs Keith Lee Vs John Silver Vs Konosuke Takeshita Vs Max Caster Vs Austin Gunn Vs Colten Gunn Vs Powerhouse Hobbs Vs Bobby Fish Vs Kyle O’Reilly Vs Dante Martin Vs Wheeler Yuta Vs Andrade El Idolo


WEST COAST PRO “’93 TIL INFINITY”, 10/06/2022
The State Room, South San Francisco, USA

1. Mike Bailey Vs Konosuke Takeshita


ROW “LOCK UP”, 11/06/2022
Booker T World Gym Arena, Texas City, Texas, USA

1. Ryan Davidson Vs Shota


Video starts at 37:43 for the match
AEW “DARK”, 14/06/2022
Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Nick Comoroto (w/ Aaron Solo)


PRESTIGE “THE NEW REALITY”, 18/06/2022
The Glass House, Pomona, USA

1. Lee Moriarty Vs Konosuke Takeshita

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Results


AEW “DARK ELEVATION”, 01/06/2022 (Aired 06/06/2022)
The Kia Forum, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Serena Deeb & Nyla Rose defeated Skye Blue & Miyu Yamashita when Deeb submitted Blue with the Serenity Lock (7:40).

When the month began, the joshi wrestlers who were hanging around in America all went back to Japan except for Miyu Yamashita. She still had an indie date left to do but there was an unusually long gap of time until it took place. Turns out the extra time was filled up with Yamashita’s first AEW booking. She unexpectedly had her debut match with the company on Dark Elevation teaming with Skye Blue against two of AEW’s top threats in the women’s division: Serena Deeb & Nyla Rose. There were complaints from fans that you shouldn’t be just throwing Yamashita into a Youtube match like that but there’s a long game being played here. AEW are well aware of Yamashita’s status in the joshi scene and have kept an eye on her for her entire US trip last month. There’s even some hearsay that her indie bookings went through AEW as part of getting her over to the USA in the first place. They’ve been so impressed with her performances that considerations are under way to put together a future AEW Women’s Title program between her and Thunder Rosa. Those plans are separate from the Rosa Vs Yamashita match happening in TJPW later this month. I know the booking of the AEW women’s division is incredibly frustrating to follow but I assure you there is some thought being put behind what to do with Yamashita in the future.


AEW “DARK”, 03/06/2022 (Aired 14/06/2022)
Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Nick Comoroto (w/ Aaron Solo) with the Jumping Knee Strike (6:42).

We’re getting into odd territory with the Dark tapings. Takeshita’s match against Nick Comoroto was recorded on 3rd June but was not used until the episode that aired on the 14th.


DPW “NO PRESSURE”, 05/06/2022
Gov. James E. Holshouser Building, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

1. Golden Opportunity Match: Miyu Yamashita defeated Miyuki Takase with the Skull Kick (15:27).

A first time meeting took place in Deadlock Pro when Yamashita took on the freelancer Miyuki Takase. The match had a little bit of everything from strike exchanges, slight comedy, big moves like an Avalanche Attitude Adjustment and Takase running a lap around the building to set up the longest Clothesline spot you’ll ever see. Yamashita found her opponent’s limit with High Kicks and finished her off with the Skull Kick to win. According to the match stipulation Yamashita now has a championship shot of some sort for whenever she wants when she returns to DPW.


AEW “DYNAMITE”, 08/06/2022
Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA

1. Casino Battle Royale: Kyle O’Reilly defeated Wheeler Yuta by Ring Out (24:59).
Order Of Elimination: Tony Nese, Lance Archer, Max Caster, Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn, Keith Lee, John Silver, Daniel Garcia, Eddie Kingston, Jake Hager, Konosuke Takeshita, Dante Martin, Ricky Starks, Bobby Fish, Darby Allin, Swerve Strickland, Powerhouse Hobbs, Rey Fenix, Andrade El Idolo and Wheeler Yuta.

Takeshita entered the annual Casino Battle Royal where the winner would face Jon Moxley later in the night. It was all part of a long, sudden journey to crown an Interim AEW World Champion thanks to CM Punk unexpectedly going out of action with injury. Takeshita entered the match in the middle of the pack but was thrown out by both Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs. That left Takeshita tweeting about if he should find some new friends for backup should a similar situation ever repeats itself.


WEST COAST PRO “’93 TIL INFINITY”, 10/06/2022
The State Room, South San Francisco, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Mike Bailey with the German Suplex (17:50).

Well he got to reunite with one of his friends a couple of days later. The long awaited rematch with Mike Bailey delivered and then some. What are you doing reading this when you can watch it up at the top of the post above?


AEW “DARK”, 11/06/2022 (Aired 19/07/2022)
Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Anthony Henry with the Jumping Knee Strike (7:48).

Back to the weirdness of the tapings. Takeshita’s match against Anthony Henry hasn’t aired yet. AEW now tapes month’s worth of Dark matches in Universal Studios a couple times a year. Details results of the tapings aren’t common so for the moment we just know who won. I’ll come back to edit this post when the match does air.


ROW “LOCK UP”, 11/06/2022
Booker T World Gym Arena, Texas City, Texas, USA

1. Ryan Davidson defeated Shota with the Davidson Driver (?:??).

Hey Ganbare☆Pro can join in on the fun now. Shota finally got to travel to America after his original plans to do so went kaput two years ago because of the pandemic. He went over to Texas to perform on a Reality Of Wrestling show. That is the promotion run by none other than Booker T. Shota took on Ryan Davidson, an American wrestler who wrestled in both DDT and Ganpro back in 2018. Shota stayed in America for a few more days and went to an AEW event in St. Louis where he hung out with Takeshita and Michael Nakazawa backstage.


PRESTIGE “THE NEW REALITY”, 18/06/2022
The Glass House, Pomona, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Lee Moriarty with the Zahi (17:55).

Another very entertaining match worth watching. Lee Moriarty is such a good talent who can shine through your screen with his ring work. He’s a good opponent for Takeshita as you can see when you watch the video way up above.


AEW “DARK ELEVATION”, 29/06/2022 (Aired 04/07/2022)
Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan, USA

1. Hikaru Shida & Yuka Sakazaki defeated Heather Reckless & Laynie Luck when Shida pinned Reckless with the Falcon Arrow (2:53).

It was a surprise to everyone when both Yuka Sakazaki and Hikaru Shida showed up to wrestle as a tag team this past Wednesday. I didn’t realize Sakazaki had left Japan for her PWG booking and it wasn’t publicly known that Shida was returning to the US either. The match against Heather Reckless & Laynie Luck will air on Dark Elevation next Monday. Hopefully for Sakazaki’s sake they edit her entrance because she tripped and fell on the ramp while running out. She got revenge on the ramp after the match by stomping on it while leaving ringside.


AEW “RAMPAGE”, 29/06/2022 (Aired 01/07/2022)
Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan, USA

1. Royal Rampage: Brody King defeated Darby Allin by Ring Out (22:41).
Order Of Elimination: Tony Nese, John Silver, Max Caster, Penta Oscuro & Rush, Matt Hardy, Frankie Kazarian, Dante Martin, Dustin Rhodes, Konosuke Takeshita, Orange Cassidy, Keith Lee, Swerve Strickland, Ricky Starks, Hangman Page, The Blade, The Butcher and Darby Allin.

Tonight’s episode of Rampage has Takeshita entering the first ever Royal Rampage match. It is reportedly a Royal Rumble match involving two wrestling rings and the last wrestlers left in each ring face off in the finale. Remember earlier when I said Takeshita wants to look for backup so he won’t get eliminated by a tag team? Well it happened again when The Butcher & The Blade worked together to throw him out of the ring.

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Upcoming Appearances


RCW “MIYUMAMI”, 02/07/2022
Casinet d’Hostafrancs, Barcelona, Spain

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Alex Windsor

Yamashita is currently in Spain ready and waiting for this weekend’s show with RCW. Her opponent is an interesting choice. Alex Windsor has been on a roll in England lately for both Revolution Pro and Pro Wrestling: EVE. She will be coming to Japan one week later to challenge for the International Princess Title too. No bigger message to send TJPW than to beat their first ace before heading over.


PWG “NINETEEN”, 03/07/2022
Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Yuka Sakazaki Vs Masha Slamovich
2. PWG World Title: Daniel Garcia (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

Takeshita has had no luck chasing after AEW championships. The PWG World Title however is so close he should be able to taste it. The champion Daniel Garcia is beaten up from doing a Blood & Guts cage match. Sakazaki gets to be added to the short list of women to have wrestled for PWG. She can make Masha Slamovich 0 for 2 against TJPW talent.


JCW “THE GREAT AMERICAN BIRTHDAY BASH”, 10/07/2022
Phil Sheridan Building, Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Cole Radrick

This is a match with more history than meets the eye. Takeshita and Cole Radrick have gotten along on Twitter for the last year, sharing gifs of them doing each other’s moves in matches. Does that mean when they finally meet they will play mind games by swapping movesets against each other?


DEFY “THE WORLD IS YOURS NIGHT 1”, 16/07/2022
Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Davey Richards

Davey Richards has taken up the indie gatekeeper role ever since he returned to active competition. Takeshita getting an opponent as established as him in a promotion as energetic as DEFY should result in magic.


TERMINUS “TERMINUS 3”, 21/07/2022
Oasis Event Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

1. Jonathan Gresham Vs Konosuke Takeshita

The hits keep on coming! Takeshita should expect a change of pace here because TERMINUS uses an alternate ruleset that encourages more grappling and less theatrics. Jonathan Gresham flies the flag for that style (often literally) and has been pretty much unbeatable since becoming the ROH World Champion. It would be a good idea for Takeshita to remember what he learned from wrestling Shinya Aoki and fight fire with fire.


PRESTIGE “NONSTOP FEELING”, 22/07/2022
Hawthorne Theater, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Kevin Blackwood

The next day Takeshita returns to Prestige for his second match in the promotion. Kevin Blackwood has been gaining notoriety in the indies this year and just last week got a big win over Takeshita’s buddy Mike Bailey.


GARDEN STATE PRO “WELCOME TO EDEN”, 23/07/2022
The Heart Ballroom, Newark, USA

1. 3 Way Match: Billie Starkz Vs Miyu Yamashita Vs Janai Kai
2. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Josh Alexander

Takeshita will also be holding a seminar for Garden State Pro on the day of the show.


BLACK LABEL PRO “THE GANG CROSSES THE LINE”, 29/07/2022
Nashville Fairgrounds, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Nick Wayne

A teenage prodigy being hailed as the future of pro wrestling with the world at his feet. Sounds familiar. Nick Wayne is sort of where Takeshita was a decade ago. The young phenomenon is becoming a must see wrestler on the indies and supposedly has an AEW contract waiting for him once he is eligible to sign it. One future will get to see the next future first hand.


SETUP “SETUP EP.8”, 30/07/2022
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. Hoshitango Vs Bital Hasdin
2. Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs X

Hoshitango’s opponent Bital Hasdin is being promoted as Thailand’s super rookie.


PROGRESS “CHAPTER 137: DEADLY VIPER TOUR – COPPERHEAD”, 13/08/2022
O2 Academy, Sheffield, England

1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs X

Takeshita heads over to England in August for a tour with PROGRESS, the company that wishes it was still 2019. His first show will be in Sheffield and then he will be in Newcastle the next day.


GCW “HOMECOMING PART 1”, 13/08/2022
The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

GCW is not ready for Maki Itoh.


PROGRESS “CHAPTER 138: DEADLY VIPER TOUR – COTTONMOUTH”, 14/08/2022
Boiler Shop, Newcastle, England

1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs X

Takeshita won’t be the only DDT talent PROGRESS gets to experience this year…


GCW “HOMECOMING PART 2”, 14/08/2022
The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

I repeat, they are so not ready for her.


PROGRESS “CHAPTER 142: DEADLY VIPER TOUR – CALIFORNIA MOUNTAIN SNAKE”, 25/09/2022
O2 Academy, Birmingham, England

1. Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs X

Chris Brookes is coming back to Europe and he’s bringing Masahiro Takanashi with him!


WXW “WORLD TAG TEAM FESTIVAL 2022”, 01/10/2022 – 03/10/2022
Turbinenhalle, Oberhausen, Germany

1. World Tag Team Festival 2022: Fuminori Abe & Shigehiro Irie Vs X
2. World Tag Team Festival 2022: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs X

Take it from me, wXw tournaments in Oberhausen make for great weekend breaks if you’re with other wrestling fans. They have done tag team tournaments every Autumn for years but the World Tag Team Festival branding is only a recent creation that got interrupted by the pandemic. CDK was one of the first teams announced to enter the annual tournament. They are joined by two familiar faces, the team of Fuminori Abe & Shigehiro Irie!


DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #17” Results

September 11, 2018

DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #17”, 11/09/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
165 Fans – No Vacancy

0. NO TV Match I: Keisuke Ishii defeated Nobuhiro Shimatani with a Running Knee Attack (5:59).
0. NO TV Match II ~ “Self-Proclaimed” Interim Mr. Maji Manji Appears In His 4th NO TV Match!: Soma Takao defeated Makoto Oishi with the Gin And Tonic (9:56).
1. MAO defeated Ryan Davidson with the Peach☆Clutch (7:13).
2. HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Yuki Ueno defeated KUDO, Masahiro Takanashi & Kazusada Higuchi when Owashi pinned Takanashi with a Collapsed La Magistral Cradle (8:43).
3. 3 Way Match: Jun Kasai defeated Antonio Honda and Kazuki Hirata when Kasai pinned Honda with the Pearl Harbour Splash (10:20).
4. DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT!: Akito & Yuki Iino defeated Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie when Nobuhiro Shimatani attacked the referee (2:26).
4a. Rematch: Konosuke Takeshita, Akito & Yuki Iino defeated Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Takeshita pinned Shimatani with a Crucifix Pin (11:01).
5. Kota Umeda “Mad Dog” 7 Match Series – 5th Match: Shinya Aoki defeated Kota Umeda with a Foot Choke (6:42).
6. Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase defeated Meiko Satomura & Daisuke Sasaki when Irie pinned Satomura with the Beast Bomber (14:15).

The unusual pairing of Meiko Satomura and Daisuke Sasaki could not put aside their differences against RENEGADES. Sasaki kept trying to avoid being tagged in whenever he could. Satomura hit him hard when she was able to tag him. Sasaki did wrestle seriously against Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase but when the moment was right for him to betray Satomura, he took it. Sasaki hit Satomura with a Thrust Kick and left her for dead so Irie could hit her with the Beast Bomber. Satomura still had strength left in her and she proved it by kicking out of the Missile Kick Piledriver combo from RENEGADES. But another Beast Bomber from Irie put her down for the count. Irie told Satomura that there is a difference in power between men and women. She will be destroyed in Korakuen Hall to the point that she won’t get back up.

When Satomura left ringside, Irie’s promo was interrupted by a video message from Danshoku Dieno. In the message Dieno said he will get revenge on Irie for attacking him but he won’t be a coward. He will fight Irie face to face! Dieno’s music hit and RENEGADES faced the entrance waiting for Dieno to come out. Dieno snuck into the ring from a different angle and blinded everyone with Milk Mist! He then gave Irie the Danshoku Driver. Dieno got on the microphone and acted like he did what he promised. He attacked Irie head on. Now they have to wait until 23rd September for the Survival 3 Way Match. Dieno wonders if Satomura will survive today’s defeat and continue fighting? Will Irie rip apart two people in the ring? Whatever will happen, Dieno will come out of it as the KO-D Openweight Champion!

Kota Umeda kicked away Shinya Aoki’s hand when he was offered a handshake. Bad move! Aoki took Umeda’s kicks and grappled him down to the canvas. Umeda gained momentum with a Dragon Suplex, a Brainbuster and a PK but as soon as Aoki trapped him in a Foot Choke it was all over for Umeda.

Aoki thanked Umeda for the match then talked about the other reason why he stepped into the DDT ring today. Aoki wants to challenge HARASHIMA for the DDT Extreme Title! Aoki is aware that HARASHIMA will get to choose the match stipulation so he asked for the match rules to be sent to him within a week. He will accept either a hand written message or a PDF document. Tetsuya Koda and Hisaya Imabayashi argued over when to book the match and agreed to have it at the 21st October Korakuen show. HARASHIMA welcomed Aoki to the harsh world of EXTREME!

The DAMNATION Vs ALL OUT match was called off when Nobuhiro Shimatani interfered and struck Yukinori Matsui with the DAMNATION placard from the DNA Draft. Konosuke Takeshita stood up from the commentary table and confronted Shimatani. It’s not time for Takeshita’s official return from injury but he asked Koda if the match could restart as a 6-Man Tag with him and Shimatani both included. The match restarted and while Takeshita got his hands on Shimatani, DAMNATION quickly targeted his injured shoulder. It was clear that Takeshita wasn’t ready to return but he was still able to pin Shimatani with a Crucifix to get ALL OUT the win. Takeshita told Akito & Yuki Iino about his frustrations while he was out of action. Now that he is back he wants to wrestle at the rest of this week’s DDT shows.

Jun Kasai used his goggles to protect his eyes from Antonio Honda’s Shining Gongitsune attack. After he won the 3 Way Match, Kasai again got in trouble for talking about the Dramatic General Election while standing inside the ring.

You don’t use La Magistral Cradle on Toru Owashi. You just don’t! Masahiro Takanashi learned that the hard way. The return of DISASTER BOX is getting Owashi his groove back.

Ryan Davidson’s final match on his first tour of DDT ended in defeat to MAO. He got time to say goodbye to the crowd and promised he will be back.

Soma Takao ignored Makoto Oishi’s handshake after their match.

Keisuke Ishii won his match with a Running Knee Strike instead of the usual Kneel Kick.

DDT gave its first update for the Dramatic Election standings. DAMNATION are leading the Unit Election with 261 votes, Shuten-dōji are second with 185 votes and The Compliance are third with 128 votes. Over on the individual side, Maki Itoh has stormed ahead of everyone else with 244 votes! The rest of the field making up the current Top 20 have between 68 down to 14 votes.


DDT “CAMPSITE PRO WRESTLING 2018” Results

September 3, 2018

DDT “CAMPSITE PRO WRESTLING 2018 ~ HISTORY’S STRONGEST 40,000 TATAMI MOVEMENT DRAMATIC DREAM NATURE LAND TWINS AND THEIR YOUNGER BROTHER~”, 02/09/2018
Yamanashi Natureland Om
200 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Falls Count Anywhere 6 Way Tag Match: Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei defeated Mike Bailey & MAO, HARASHIMA & Yuki Ueno, Tetsuya Endo & Mad Paulie, Sanshiro Takagi & Michael Nakazawa and Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe when Shu pinned Bailey with the Zombie King on top of a car (87:03).

With summer coming to an end, DDT found the time to go camping at Yamanashi Natureland Om, the home of their Campsite Pro Wrestling matches. This time six teams of two would face off an cause havoc out in the woods. The action was followed by Hisaya Imabayashi, Haruo Murata and Konosuke Takeshita on commentary as they tried to catch up with all of the chaos.

Sanshiro Takagi & Michael Nakazawa arrived wearing Gundam costumes. Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe drove into the starting area on a scooter. The Brahman Brothers were the first to create trouble when they threw buckets of water and dirt at everyone.

The match began at the plaza and quickly found its way along the river. HARASHIMA and Kodaka fought their way towards a small waterfall and they were almost pushed off the edge. They avoided it and instead HARASHIMA suplexed Kodaka down a hill.

The Brahmans found a nearby restroom and pushed Nakazawa’s head into a toilet. They then brought Takagi towards an electric fence. Takagi was pushed into the fence and “explosions” were set off from the currents flowing through Takagi’s body.

Down at the bottom of the hill everybody found an unexpected figure. It was Yumehito Imanari acting like he was in the movie Commando. HARASHIMA disarmed Imanari and the wrestlers all forced him to flee the scene.

The match found its way to a hut where MAO and Yuki Ueno climbed up to the roof so they could attack everybody with water guns. The Brahmans got the upper hand and lined up along chain of wrestlers for their bowling ball spot. The word “Strike!” echoed throughout the area after they threw the ball. They then tried to shove a wooden stake up Nakazawa’s backside.

Kodaka & Abe returned to the plaza on their scooter and drove into Nakazawa. The Brahmans found a tent and set it on fire. It turned out the tent was being used by Ryan Davidson and he was pissed! Davidson went on a rampage attacking everybody. Mike Bailey & MAO stopped him and took him out with a Double Standing Moonsault on the remains of the tent.

Takagi found a can of mousse so he sprayed a lump of it onto his hands and set it on fire. He went to slap his target but missed and hit Nakazawa by accident.

The Brahmans were being so mean to people that they made a kid cry. HARASHIMA helped the kid kick them in the head for payback.

The match went on the move again and found its way to one of the highest points of the campsite. There they found the Sumo God Kazusada Higuchi accompanied by Nobuhiro Shimatani. Higuchi challenged everyone to beat him in a game of sumo and he defeated them all.

A frightful discovery was made nearby. The dead body of Makoto Oishi was found with his head next to a rock covered in his blood. Curiously, there was a blood stain next to his hand that looked like the letter M. Everyone assumed it was Michael Nakazawa until they saw both MAO and Yuki Ueno were covered in blood. HARASHIMA attacked them because they wouldn’t apologise for accidentally killing Oishi. Bailey & MAO both moonsaulted off of a shed while Abe prayed for Oishi.

The action went back to the plaza where everyone saw Ryan Davidson unconscious on the ground. They all thought he died too but he woke up and was again pissed off. This time Davidson picked up a log and placed it over his shoulders. He spun around hitting anyone who approached him. Higuchi reappeared and challenged Davidson to some sumo wrestling.

 

There was a chain of Headscissors…

Mad Paulie then turned it into one long Crab Hold.

Commando Imanari returned and took several people hostage in a nearby hut. Nakazawa, Shimatani and a Samurai! TV cameraman were all being held by him. Takagi rallied the other wrestlers to hold the hut under siege by shooting fireworks into it! The Brahmans joined in by throwing eggs at the hut. Nakazawa was freed but when he left the hut he suffered an Anal Explosion from a firecracker that was placed inside his tights!

A pile of wood was collected and made into a campfire. Takagi emerged riding the Dramatic Dream Cycle but crashed into the fire when everyone dodged him.

Everyone fought into a nearby pond and one by one the wrestlers did their trademark moves into the water. Tetsuya Endo was the last to jump with a Tornillo onto everybody.

 

The feud between Takagi and MAO then took to a new level never seen before in DDT. Takagi found a car and tried to run over MAO. In return MAO found another car and the two drove around trying to hit each other! MAO’s car stalled and that allowed Takagi to drive into him from the side! Takagi pulled MAO out of the car and gave him a Spiccoli Driver onto the bonnet. Endo placed Ueno on the hood of one of the cars and Paulie flattened Ueno with a Splash onto the hood.

Kodaka & Abe found pick axes and decided to relive the bonus stage of Street Fighter II. Everyone liked the idea and joined in trying to destroy the cars with their wrestling moves!

The Brahmans remembered there was a wrestling match going on so they attacked Bailey with a stop sign and threw a bucket of ink at him. Brahman Shu then gave Bailey the Zombie King onto the roof of the car and pinned him for the three count.

When the dust was settled Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei had a realisation. They are a tag team. Bailey & MAO are the KO-D Tag Team Champions. They should have do title match! MAO agreed then collapsed from exhaustion. Imabayashi announced the match will take place on the 23rd September Korakuen Hall show. Sanshiro Takagi then demanded a match with MAO. For months they have tried to kill each other by crazier and crazier methods. This grudge needs to be settled at Sumo Hall on 21st October in a Weapon Rumble! MAO accepted the match because the Weapon Rumble is the reason he became a pro wrestler in the first place. It must be fate that their final battle will be in that match. Takagi told him he would be bringing his car to Sumo Hall. Everybody then celebrated the end of today’s match by continuing to destroy the two cars.


DDT “KING OF DDT 2018 3RD ROUND” Results

August 25, 2018

DDT “KING OF DDT 2018 3RD ROUND”, 25/08/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
718 Fans

1. Sanshiro Takagi, Kouki Iwasaki, Daiki Shimomura & Rekka defeated Toru Owashi, Yuki Ueno, Akito & Yuki Iino when Iwasaki pinned Iino with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster (6:55).
2. DAMNATION Vs RENEGADES!: Mizuki Watase, Jason Kincaid & Ryan Davidson defeated Soma Takao, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Davidson pinned Shimatani with the Davidson Driver (9:58).
3. Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Super Sasadango Machine defeated KUDO, Masahiro Takanashi & Gorgeous Matsuno when Dieno submitted Matsuno with the Meiko Killer III (7:43).
4. Special Tag Match: Shigehiro Irie & Taiyo Kea defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Antonio Honda when Irie pinned Honda with the Beast Bomber (12:47).
5. King Of DDT 2018 – Quarter Final: MAO defeated Mike Bailey with the Cannonball 450 (11:33).
6. King Of DDT 2018 – Quarter Final: Tetsuya Endo defeated Kazuki Hirata with the Swivel Torture Rack Bomb (12:22).
7. King Of DDT 2018 – Quarter Final: HARASHIMA defeated Yukio Sakaguchi with the Somato (14:59).
8. King Of DDT 2018 – Quarter Final: Daisuke Sasaki defeated Keisuke Ishii with the Crossover Facelock (22:49).

We’re down to four in the King Of DDT. Tomorrow sees MAO, Tetsuya Endo, HARASHIMA and Daisuke Sasaki battle it out in the final rounds. But today they all went through some tough matches. In the main event Sasaki dug deep into his moveset to beat Keisuke Ishii. At one point he Superplexed Ishii out of the ring onto DAMNATION outside the ring. Sasaki kicked out of the Tiger Suplex, Final Cut and High Angle Double Arm DDT. In return, Sasaki avoided the Kneel Kick to hit the NOW OR NEVER. He then performed the Italian DDT from his Sasaki & Gabbana days before making Ishii submit to the Crossover Facelock.

HARASHIMA avoided the God’s Right Knee more often than not in his match against Yukio Sakaguchi. The vital moment came when he cut off Sakaguchi’s finisher with a short range Somato. HARASHIMA then hit the full length version to get the win.

The miracle run for Kazuki Hirata has ended at the Quarter Final stage. Endo made fun of him for being the underdog but Hirata really brought the fight to him. Hirata countered the Swivel Torture Rack Bomb by tightening his grip around Endo’s head so he could apply a Headlock. Endo tried to fight out of it with back drops but Hirata refused to let go until he could position himself for an Asai DDT out of nowhere. Hirata hit the Sliding Kick twice but still couldn’t get the pin so he went for the Viagra Driver. Endo blocked it and changed the course of the match by hitting the Handspring Kneel Kick and Tetsuya In The Sky for a nearfall. Endo finally put Hirata away with the Torture Rack Bomb.

In the match between KO-D Tag Team Champions, both Mike Bailey and MAO went high risk from the start. A lot of dives out of the ring didn’t slow either of them down until MAO won with the Cannonball 450. The two hugged afterwards.

It’s been a while since Taiyo Kea last wrestled in Japan. He remembers Shigehiro Irie but said he has turned into a different person from the last time they met. He thinks Irie is now a fairly strong wrestler with amazing power. Together they defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Antonio Honda but it wasn’t a dominant victory. Honda successfully pulled off his Gongitsune trick on Kea. He recovered and gave Honda the TKO before Irie finished him off with the Beast Bomber.

A still injured Danshoku Dieno had to change his battle plan today knowing that his right shoulder would definitely be targeted. Gorgeous Matsuno tried to make Dieno tap with a Cross Armbreaker but Dieno countered the move into an Indian Deathlock and Headscissors combo to make Matsuno give up. Dieno has now discovered a new effective wrestling hold that will surely come in handy soon, so he named it the Meiko Killer III.

Nobuhiro Shimatani was eager to throw his weight around now that he is mostly accepted into DAMNATION. Mad Paulie also got to throw him around too onto their opponents. That all stopped when Ryan Davidson struck Shimatani with a Lariat and pinned him with the Davidson Driver.

Sanshiro Takagi got to say goodbye to three wrestlers all leaving on their own separate journeys. With Kouki Iwasaki moving to Ganbare☆Wrestling, Daiki Shimomura moving to BASARA and Rekka going overseas (not back home to Taiwan as previously reported), Takagi felt like today was farewell. He hopes that all of them will grow and treat this as the first chapter of their new story. There is only one advice he can give to them and that’s for them to really do their best.

The list of current entries in this year’s Dramatic General Election was revealed during the show. Most of the regular roster is involved. Yumehito Imanari and Maki Itoh also volunteered to compete. Sanshiro Takagi, Shigehiro Irie, Tomomitsu Matsunaga and Mike Bailey all declined to enter the contest. Danshoku Dieno is undecided and has until tomorrow to make up his mind. DAMNATION, ALL OUT, Shuten-dōji and DISASTER BOX are the current units involved with the deadline also being for tomorrow.


DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #14” Results

August 14, 2018

DDT “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #14”, 14/08/2018
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
240 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. NO TV Match: Soma Takao defeated Mizuki Watase with the Sorarina (7:22).
0. NO TV Match: Ryan Davidson & Facade defeated Toru Owashi & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Davidson pinned Shimatani with the Davidson Driver (8:25).
1. Akito & Gota Ihashi defeated Yuki Ueno & Yuki Iino when Akito submitted Iino with a Modified Leg Lock (7:23).
2. Kazusada Higuchi, Kouki Iwasaki & Meiko Satomura defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Makoto Oishi & Cherry when Satomura pinned Oishi with the Scorpio Rising (7:05).
*Meiko Satomura wins Makoto Oishi’s Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Gauntlet.
3. KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Danshoku Dieno & Antonio Honda when KUDO pinned Honda with the Diving Double Knee Drop (9:07).
4. Road to King Of DDT 2018 3rd Round 4 Way Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo defeated HARASHIMA & Mike Bailey, Yukio Sakaguchi & MAO and Keisuke Ishii & Kazuki Hirata when Endo pinned Hirata with a Swan Dive 450 Splash (10:20).
5. RENEGADES Vs DAMNATION!: Shigehiro Irie & Jason Kincaid defeated Shuji Ishikawa & Mad Paulie when Irie pinned Paulie with the Beast Bomber (19:20).
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Danshoku Dieno defeated Shigehiro Irie (c) with the Gaydo Clutch (1:37).
*Super Sasadango Machine gives his Right To Challenge Anytime, Anywhere Contract to Danshoku Dieno. Shigehiro Irie fails in V1. Danshoku Dieno cashes in his Right To Challenge Gauntlet. Danshoku Dieno becomes the 65th KO-D Openweight Champion!

Today’s episode sparked plenty of changes in the DDT landscape. There was the planned roster switch-up freshening up some of the units but some added surprises completely changed the course of as we head towards the King Of DDT finale. Things seemed normal during the main event. Shigehiro Irie made his first appearance in DDT since his latest US tour and after the title loss incident in Ohio he had the KO-D Openweight Title with him safe and sound. He and Jason Kincaid were victorious over Shuji Ishikawa & Mad Paulie but it was a close call. Irie kicked out of a Double Choke Slam and the Reverse Splash. It was only when he hit a desperate Beast Bomber to Paulie that he was able to win the match. Ishikawa said he got to have a strong match after spending time away from DDT. He told everyone when he is the Triple Crown Champion he would like to face Irie again.

When DAMNATION left the ring, Meiko Satomura came out with her eyes set on Irie. With the yellow Right To Challenge Gauntlet in her possession, Satomura challenged Irie to a title match on the 28th August episode of “DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI”! An exhausted Irie got up and accepted the challenge. But when they were about to shake hands, Danshoku Dieno interrupted them with important news. Producer Dieno will not accept Irie Vs Satomura as the next KO-D Title match because the next title match will happen right now! Dieno then suddenly pulled out the blue Gauntlet belonging to Super Sasadango Machine. A video played on the screen of Sasadango announcing that he is giving his Gauntlet to Dieno as a gift. It now belongs to Dieno and he is cashing it in straight away!

The match began and Dieno immediately gave Irie the Danshoku Driver several times. Irie kicked out of them and fought back. He hit the Beast Bomber but when Irie went for the pin, Dieno caught him in the Gaydo Clutch and pinned him! Danshoku Dieno is the new KO-D Champion! A furious Irie had to be held back by the rest of RENEGADES until they finally got him to leave the ring. He still tossed a chair from the front row at Dieno as he was leaving. Dieno taunted Irie by telling him what he did today was all in the rules. Dieno waited so long and played the good boss all this time so he could pull this off. This plan was why Dieno did not enter King Of DDT this year. He may be the weakest champion of any wrestling company right now but that doesn’t matter. He is going straight to the main event of “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018” as the champion! Just one problem. Meiko Satomura is still here with the last Right To Challenge Gauntlet (more about that below) and her intention to challenge the champion on 28th August still stands. She told Dieno she will win the KO-D Title, defend it against Irie and then defend it at the main event of Sumo Hall!

The DNA Draft and resulting roster reshuffle took place at the start of the episode. It was already decided that Daiki Shimomura would join BASARA and Kouki Iwasaki would join Ganbare☆Wrestling. Rekka also announced he will be leaving Japan for a while so he will not be transferring to another brand. The remaining DNA wrestlers were given the chance to nominate the group or unit they wished to join and it would be up to those groups to accept them or not. Some of the obvious moves were made first. Mizuki Watase chose RENEGADES (side note: Ryan Davidson has also joined the unit) and Shunma Katsumata picked ALL OUT. No surprises there. MAO wants to continue teaming with Mike Bailey so he picked the default DDT Sekigun group. Yuki Ueno also picked DDT. Naomi Yoshimura didn’t pick anybody. Instead he will go wherever he wants, whenever he wants. Konosuke Takeshita of all people asked him to join ALL OUT instead. Yoshimura declined because he has no motivation to fight with them. He’d rather fight against them. Yuki Iino asked if he could join ALL OUT. Akito wasn’t convinced so he would use their match later as an audition. Kota Umeda chose to stick with DDT. He will be on the same side as his old unit Shuten-dōji and he wants to set a fire under his former older brothers. Nobuhiro Shimatani declared himself the leader of DAMNATION but Daisuke Sasaki said the unit doesn’t need him. Shimatani then nominated Tokyo Joshi Pro but their producer Tetsuya Koda outright refused him. Shimatani went back to DAMNATION and promised to find a beautiful blonde woman for Sasaki, cook delicious meat for Mad Paulie, handcraft a new ring costume for Soma Takao, give Tetsuya Endo a better haircut than the one he currently has and teach new songs to Shuji Ishikawa. Sasaki finally gave in and inducted Shimatani into DAMNATION, but only as a temporary manager. Good enough!

In the middle of the draft, T2Hide announced they are splitting up. Kazuki Hirata is doing well without them although he protested the decision. HARASHIMA approached Toru Owashi and asked him to reform Disaster BOX, their old unit from the 2000s. Owashi liked the idea but they needed a third member to make them a unit. They nominated Yuki Ueno. He has no idea what Disaster BOX is or how important they are in DDT’s history but ok, he’ll join them instead of the default DDT side.

Now all of that craziness has been touched upon, let’s get into the rest of the show. The eight remaining King Of DDT participants met in an 4-Way Tag Match. Some of the pairings were unusual and led to a mix up. MAO & Mike Bailey were on two different teams but in the heat of the action they worked together to wipe out a few of the other wrestlers with a Double Moonsault to the outside. Kazuki Hirata tried to continue his miracle run by going straight at Tetsuya Endo with Cradles but in the end he was pinned by Endo with a Swan Dive 450 Splash. Despite winning the match, Endo says he does not feel any momentum from today’s result. That stuff means nothing when you’re only in the Quarter Finals.

Judging from his earlier performance on the episode you wouldn’t have thought Dieno would end up as champion by the end of it. He got into his usual shenanigans with Antonio Honda against KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi. Honda’s double Gongistune backfired when KUDO & Takanashi grabbed both of his hands and made Honda poke himself in both eyes. They then finised him off with the Takatonic followed by the Diving Double Knee Drop.

It turns out the Right To Challenge Gauntlet rules do apply overseas. Meiko Satomura apologised to the fans for losing the red Gauntlet during her recent visit to America for the Mae Young Classic. I’d go into more detail about the possible consequences for that but it veers into spoiler territory and I’m not in the mood to get into arguments about that right now. To make up for it Satomura made it her goal today to win another Gauntlet so she can challenge for the KO-D Title. Good thing she was in a match against the holder of the yellow Gauntlet Makoto Oishi. Satomura pinned Oishi with the Scorpio Rising and now holds the last remaining Right To Challenge Gauntlet in Japan. Before this match Sanshiro Takagi said if his team won then he would set up the Meiko Young Classic, a tournament for all women wrestlers over the age of 40. Meiko Satomura is 38.

Iino impressed ALL OUT enough in his match to be accepted into their unit. He hit Akito with the Spear but Akito grabbed onto Iino’s leg and pulled him down into a Leg Lock to make him submit.

There was an extra special guest appearing on the show this week. Rintaro Oyaizu from Season 2 of The Bachelor Japan greeted everyone and very quickly attracted attention from several wrestlers. Cherry, Yuna Manase, Yuki Kamifuku and Maki Itoh all entered the ring wanting to woo Oyaizu. They all agreed to fight each other in a 4 Way Match on 28th August with the winner getting a date with The Bachelor.